'Slinger Spells

For the most part, when you think of fantasy games, you don’t really think of guns and magic going together. Actually, to be perfectly honest, you probably don’t think of guns that much in fantasy games at all, but that’s sort of beside the point. That said, this week is Firearm Week, and today’s article is all about new and exciting spells, so strap yourself in and get ready for some spells of the gun.

Advanced Engineering

This spell magically alters the interior workings of the target, allowing it to function more efficiently and safely. For the spell’s duration, the target is treated as though it is an advanced firearm for the purposes of how attacks are resolved, the type of action required to load it, and the effects of a misfire.

Advanced engineering can be made permanent with the permanency spell. The minimum caster level required is 9th, and the cost to do so is 1,000 gp.

Autoloader

This spell instantly and automatically conjures mundane ammunition into the target weapon, ensuring that its wielder need not worry about reloading it. Any time that the weapon is unloaded (such as immediately after it is fired), the spell instantly conjures mundane ammunition of the appropriate type, effectively reloading the weapon as a free action. There is no way to use this spell to load the weapon with enchanted ammunition, or other specific ammunition the wielder has in his possession, and, in fact, it actually prevents this from occurring by automatically reloading the weapon as soon as any ammunition is removed, so that there is never a way to fit such ammunition into the target. At the end of the spell’s duration, all ammunition created by the spell vanishes.

Curse of Misfiring

You point your finger and fire forth a ray of pulsing red energy towards the target, creating a magical resonance which causes it to become highly volatile. For the spell’s duration, the target’s misfire range is increased by +1 per 3 caster levels (to a maximum of +6 at 18th level). Further, if the target is an early firearm, then it explodes on its first misfire, even if it doesn’t have the broken condition. If it is an advanced firearm, if it misfires while it has the broken condition, it explodes, as though it were an early firearm.

Empower Ammunition

With this spell, you imbue a touched piece of ammunition with incredible and deadly power. For the duration of the spell, the affected ammunition has a +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage, and gains any two of the following weapon special abilities of your choice: flaming, frost, merciful, seeking, shock, or thundering. Finally, the affected ammunition can be loaded as a move action, even if it would normally take longer to load whatever weapon it is being loaded into. If the weapon can normally be loaded with less than a move action (such as a shortbow), then the ammunition can instead be loaded in the normal amount of time. Once the ammunition has been fired, regardless of whether the attack hits or misses, the spell is expended, so each use of this spell is good for only a single attack.

Mage’s Pistol

This spell creates a fully-functioning pistol made of force energy, which appears in your hand. You are automatically considered proficient with this weapon, even if you would not normally be proficient with a pistol. Further, the pistol is treated as though it has a +1 enhancement bonus, all damage it deals is force damage (and, as such, bypasses most damage reduction), and it automatically reloads as a free action after each shot you fire.

The mage’s pistol does have some downsides, however: first, it remains in existence only as long as you continue to hold it. If it is dropped, or given to another character, it immediately winks out of existence. Second, if an attacked creature has Spell Resistance, you make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against that Spell Resistance the first time the mage’s pistol strikes it. If the weapon is successfully resisted, the mage’s pistol is unable to damage that creature. Otherwise, it has its normal full effect on that creature for the duration of the spell. Finally, if the mage’s pistol ever misfires, the spell immediately ends.